Collected in this volume are Bartleby, the Scrivener , Benito Cereno and Billy Budd - presented in the best texts available, those published during Herman Melville’s lifetime and corrected by the author. Each text has been carefully edited and annotated for student readers. As his writing reflects, Melville was extraordinarily well read. The Contexts collects important sources for each novel, including writings by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Amasa Delano and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Criticism includes 28 essays about the novels which aim to promote classroom discussions. Contributers include: Leo Marx, Elizabeth Hardwick, Frederick Busch, Robert Lowell, Hershel Parker, Carolyn L. Karcher, Thomas Mann and Hannah Arendt. A selected bibliography is included.